The U. S. Supreme Court's
1988 landmark decision
Communication Workers v.
Beck established the rights
of employees working under
union contracts to pay only
those union dues or fees
necessary to cover the costs
of a union's employee
representation duties.
However, the majority of
Michigan's nearly one million
union workers are unaware
of their rights under the Beck
decision for the simple
reason that their unions
neglect to inform them.
This report shows how
"paycheck protection"
legislation would help
safeguard worker Beck
rights by requiring unions to
obtain up-front, written
approval from individual
workers each year before
they could spend the dues
money on political or other
non-workplace-related
activities.
The report recommends that
Michigan policy makers
adopt a paycheck protection
proposal to help union
workers enjoy their freedoms
of speech and association
as they refrain from
involuntarily contributing
money to union causes with
which they disagree.